PASADENA - When Pasadena police officers shot and killed an unarmed 19-year-old on a poorly lit city street, the shooting served as an ugly reminder of the strained relationships between the Police Department and large swaths of the community.

Killed was Kendrec McDade, a onetime standout on the Azusa High School football team. Police encountered him after receiving a false report of an armed robbery.

In the weeks and months following the shooting, citizens and attorneys have alleged Pasadena police officers have engaged in kidnappings, assaults, death threats, attempted bribery and have violated residents' civil rights.

McDade family attorney Caree Harper has been a lightning rod in the case for her brash comments in the press. She said the death of McDade coupled with the work of her office prompted attorneys for victims of alleged police misconduct to come forward with additional complaints against Pasadena officers.

"I believe the killing of McDade is the catalyst for all these Pasadena officers being investigated for excessive force, threats and the pattern of behavior," Harper said. "Now people are coming forward because maybe they aren't fearful."

Harper filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Pasadena, its Police Department and several officers.

And while Harper believes the McDade killing was the tipping point for many in the community to come forward with complaints, Pasadena-branch NAACP President Joe Brown said frustrations had been building for some time.

"Persons in the community had pretty much had it with the things the officers continued to do," Brown said.

Brown said the years of outrageous behavior by a core group of rogue cops had become too much for members of the community to continue to endure.

The same sentiment has been expressed by Latino community leaders, according to Norma Valenzuela, who heads the local chapter of the Latin American League of United Citizens.

"We are in the same place. We face the same concerns," Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela accuses the Police Department of racism and believes its treatment of black and Latino youth is far different from the way it treats young white residents.

Public meetings, demonstration, rounds of secret meetings and calls for calm by city leaders followed the McDade shooting in March. Community members asked why a 19-year-old man was killed on a dark street when he didn't have a gun and when it appears that the police officers never shined a spotlight on McDade.

Department officials said officers Mathew Griffin and Jeffrey Newlen never turned on the lights of the police cruiser or its sirens while in pursuit. Additionally, Griffin fired on McDade from inside his police car.

As investigations into the McDade shooting got underway, a new round of complaints followed.

In May, Attorney Michael Kraut, known for blowing the whistle on the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division when he was an deputy in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, announced that he had filed a complaint with the Pasadena Police Department.

Kraut alleges that Pasadena homicide detective Kevin Okamoto failed to disclose exculpatory evidence in a criminal case. The revelation led to an investigation of Okamoto by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Internal Affairs Bureau, a probe paid for with city of Pasadena funds, officials said.

Other complaints followed.

A witness in a homicide case alleged Detective William Broghamer tried to beat a confession out of him inside PPD headquarters; a juror in a separate homicide case claimed officer Kevin Gomez lied on the witness stand; another man said Gomez threatened to kill him - and get away with it because he is a cop.

Complaints also have been filed against officers Richard Gawlik and Kimberly Smith.

Pasadena police Chief Phillip Sanchez has forwarded many of the complaints to the Sheriff's Internal Affairs Bureau.

Meanwhile, Pasadena residents continue to clamor for citizen oversight of the Police Department. Some lament the slow pace of reform.

"The process itself has been too long, they have been playing around," Valenzuela said. "What we are asking is for citizen oversight, it is simple as that."

City Hall has resisted the restoration of a citizens use of force board, which would oversee the Police Department. Instead both elected and appointed leaders at City Hall insist a public safety sub-committee, staffed by electeds, can conduct police officer oversight.

Canceled meetings

However, the public safety sub-committee comprised of City Council members Steve Madison, Margaret McAustin, Jacque Robinson and Gene Masuda has canceled 12 of its 17 scheduled meetings this year.

Monday's meeting is among those cancellations. That was due to the traditional closing of City Hall in late summer to allow council members an opportunity to take a vacation, Madison said.

In April, following the McDade shooting, the commission cancelled three meetings. It held no meetings in January or February, and cancelled one each in March, May and June, according to city documents.

When the community wanted answers and to discuss the tragic shooting of McDade, "our four elected officials went fishing and they continue to go fishing," the NAACP's Brown said.

He accused the committee of "stonewalling" progress on police reforms.

This past spring Pasadena Human Service Commission member Martin Gordon sharply criticized the City Council for the public safety sub-committee cancellations. He believes City Hall is stalling and officials hope the controversy swirling over the McDade shooting and officer misconduct will fade.

"They think that we are stupid and won't stay the course," Gordon said.

Long an advocate for citizen oversight, Gordon said the frequent cancellations are proof that City Council members should not be charged with overseeing the Police Department.

"If you can't meet, how can you provide oversight to anything?" Gordon asked.

Madison, who chairs the public safety sub-committee, said he understands some of the frustrations in the community, but pointed to at least one challenge in holding a meeting.

"With four council members on the committee, we have to have three for a quorum," he said.

Getting at least three City Council members to the bi-monthly meeting has proved difficult, Madison added.

As for the cancellation of all April meetings following the McDade shooting, Madison said: "I can tell you we would not been able to take any action at the time, since there were investigations under way."

But even as the department is being heavily scrutinized, Sanchez has announced some planned changes to the complaint filing and tracking system.

The department may soon adopt the IAPro computer system to track complaints. Sanchez has pushed for verbal presentation by supervising officers of complaints filed against Pasadena officers. The department also wants to provide a receipt for complaints filed online.

The suggestion by the chief provides some comfort to Brown.

"This is the first challenge to Chief Phillip Sanchez under his watch," Brown said. "He has a better idea of what needs to be tweaked, how is he is going to go about tweaking it and when he is going to do so."